The invention relates to a new and improved user interface (UI) for a telephone handset. The UI of hand portable phones for cellular or cordless systems does not just support the call handling alone. In the recent generations of hand portable phones more and more new applications have been integrated in the phones.
Navigation among the menu items, handling of the individual applications and editing of text as input for the applications are very difficult to perform, because the most commonly used type of navigation is carried out by an up/down scroll key. The number of operations that may be performed by a hand portable phone continues to increase. However, in order to make the phone more user-friendly it is desired to simplify the keypad, since many non-technical users take fright at keys if they do not know how to handle these keys. In general, customers are frightened when they see a keypad overwhelmed with special keys.
In order to reduce the number of keys on a handset more and more functions and operations are integrated in a reduced number of keys. A phone named Nokia 3110(copyright) marketed by the applicant has a very limited number of keys having the most commonly used functions and operations as default options, while the functions and operations not used so often are alternative options. This concept is described in a UK patent application 9624520.4 and was fully accepted by the user group when introduced.
Even though this concept makes it much easier for new phone users to become familiar with the most commonly used operations, such as making calls, handling the electronic phone book, etc., it does not improve the usability of the more rarely used operations, such as making conference calls, message handling, etc.
UK patent application 9703646.1 describes a concept according to which a window pops up when a soft key is depressed. This window contains a list including operations available through the soft key.
In accordance with the invention there is provided a portable phone having a display, input means for inputting information and instructions to a control unit in the phone, said control unit controlling the display in dependence on the operation of the input means; said input means including means for moving a marker in the display; and means for providing a request to the control unit for displaying operations which are allowed in a position defined by said marker; said control unit generating a pop-up window which covers a part of the display upon reception of the request, and which includes said allowed operations. Hereby both the options normally present in the soft keys and the navigation of the cursor may be integrated in the roller body of the navigation means.
One important advantage is that the active part of the display may be increased, because one out of three to five text lines of the display does no longer have to be dedicated to the displaying of the soft key functionality. Another advantage is that a number of the keys may simply be left out. In a simple way, it is hereby easy to obtain a navigation and selection key with the desired properties.
An embodiment of the invention provides a new and improved user interface for a telephone hand set, wherein the default and alternative options available are displayed in a way giving the user a better view of the available options.
Advantageously, the means for moving a marker in the display comprises a navigation key means having a roller body whose rolling is detected by means of an encoder operatively connected to the control unit which controls the movement of the marker in the display in dependence thereon. Preferably, the request means comprises a sensor integrated in a support structure for the roller body, said moving and request means being integrated in the navigation key means. The contents of the pop-up window in an entry or editing mode show marker determined context sensitivity. At present, the LCD displays are the preferred type of displays used for e.g. phones, and this type of display is a dot matrix display in which the display signs are preferably arranged in a predetermined number of lines in the active part of the display, each of said lines may contain a plurality of signs, and said marker is provided as a gleaming bar which may be positioned between two of said signs. A new sign is entered to the right of the gleaming bar, and the gleaming bar is moved to the right of the newly entered sign.
Advantageously, the phone changes state upon the occurrence of the context sensitive pop-up window to a listing mode in which a plurality of allowable operations are listed in the pop-up window, and wherein said request providing input means changes functionality to a selection means which, when depressed, selects the operation marked by the cursor. Hereby the same key may be used for different types of navigation in dependence on the present mode of the phone.
By providing the phone with an editor not depending on an alphanumeric keypad, but controlled by the control unit and operated by the navigation key means, the alphanumeric keypad may simply be left out. Hereby it is possible to have the roller body based navigation key as the sole input key. A power on/off key may be present on the phone. The control unit defines for the editor a first display part in the display for displaying a string of entered information; a second display part in the display for displaying a string of a plurality of possible information candidates; one of the candidates in the candidate string being highlighted by the cursor whose movement through information candidates is controlled by the rolling of the navigation key means, and said highlighted candidate being selectable for entering into the string of entered information by pressing the navigation key means.
The invention therefore also relates to a portable phone having a display, input means for inputting information and instructions to a control unit in the phone, said control unit controlling the display in dependence on the operation of the input means; said input means including a depressable roller body; a support structure for the roller body; an encoder operatively connected to the control unit for detecting the rolling of the roller body; and a sensor operatively connected to the control unit for detecting the depression of the roller body; said control unit generating a pop-up window which includes a set of allowed operations and which covers a part of the display upon reception of a request provided by depressing the roller body. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the navigation key is the only input means of the phone.
The pop-up window is demarcated from the active display area by means of borderlines defining a rectangular frame. When the text is black on a light (yellow or green) background, the rectangular frame may advantageously be black like the text and have a line width corresponding to 2-3 pixels or dots. When the pop-up window area covers from 30 percent to 70 percent of the full active display area, the user will always have the possibility of seeing a part of the background display which is sufficient to recognize the mode or display.
According to the preferred embodiment, the pop-up window contains two-four selectable operations within the rectangular frame. However, the control unit handles a list including a plurality of selectable operations arranged in a predetermined order with only a fractional set of the full set of operation shown simultaneously in the pop-up window. Rolling of the navigation key means causes scanning through the full set of operations. The window thereby moves along the full list.
Preferably, the full list is not provided as an endless loop. Preferably, the full set of operations is arranged with two operations defined as a first item and a last item in the list, respectively; and in the listing mode, when the cursor passes outside the first or the last item in the list, the pop-up window disappears and the phone goes from listing mode to the mode associated with the background display.
Preferably, the context sensitive pop-up window includes all available operations. These are available from a number of sub-menus according to the state of the art. Now the user does no longer have to remember the path to the sub-menu he can just select from a list.